LPEA’s new rate structure is backward

You are being had. The base charge average has been 34 percent of my bill from La Plata Electric Association since 2007. Now, the new rates will make my base charge close to 50 percent. If it takes 50 percent to supply electricity then there is a serious structure problem with how the association charges its customers.

One of the problems is that LPEA makes no rules covering “power factor correction” by large users. With no control, the power supplier must charge more for the raw electricity. All of the buildings on Main Avenue are using fluorescent lighting with no power-factor correction. This means that the rest of us are helping to pay for the poor engineering on LPEA’s part.

The rates should be based on a system of the more you use, the more you pay. The way the new rates are applied, the more you use the lower your overall rate per kilowatt. Show up at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 13 for LPEA’s meeting.